Crankcase ventilating system



I w. ENGsTo -ErAL 2,346,735

GRANKCASE VENTILATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 14, 1940 2 Sheets-Shet l I NVENTORS Fngstflom nn taken substantially on the line 33 substantially on the line stantially on the line 5-5 of Patented Apr. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,346,736 CRANKCASE VENTILATIN G SYSTEM William Engstrom, North Muskegon,

Mich. ental Motors Corporati corporation of Virginia Muskegon, and Earl Ginn;

assignors to Continon, Muskegon, Mich, a

Our invention relates to internal combustion engines and more means which is adaptable for production assembly with an internal More particularly, object the provision sure efficient operation at all times.

Further objects of our invention are to provide an improved device ventilating system, and in which:

nal combustion engine equipped with our improved crankcase ventilating' system,

' Fig. 2 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view through an engine showing our ventilating metering'element and housing assembled as a unit with 'a valve chamber cover,

Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary sectional view of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view through the ventilating metering element housing and taken 4-4 of Fig. 3, vertical sectional view taken sub- Fig. 3 and showing the metering element and housing and illustrat- Fig. 5 iS a ing. the manner of attaching same to the valve chamber cover. i v

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 5 showing the ventilating metering element in another position,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of the ventilating device including the housing, showing in detail the action of the oil baflling means, and which is taken substantially on the line 'l'! of Fig. 5, I

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of a weighted ventilating metering element, 7

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view showing a modifled construction, a

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view taken on the line Iii-Ill of Fig. 9, and I Fig. 11 is a, fragmentary sectional detail View of a furthermodified construction.

Our crankcase ventilating system is constructed for assembly with an internal combustion engine ID of substantially standard construction which includes a cylinder block I I, a cylinder head 12, water connection I 3, a crankcase I 4, exhaust manifold 15, and an intake manifold l6 which is preferably connected with a suitable fuel mix- Fig. 1 IS a side elevational view of an interture and forming device or carburetor H. The cylinder block is preferably provided with a valve chamber l8 having an opening l9 which is closed by a conventional valve chamber cover 20. The

crankcase I l encloses a crankcase chamber 2| I The housing is provided with an outlet duct 29 opening through the open face of the housing and arranged to be connected with a union or coupling 30 which is in turn connected to a conduit 3| connected with the engine intake manifold as at 32. A passage 33 connects the outer passage 28 with the interior chamber 34, and the housing is provided with a partition wall 35 intermediate the chamber 34 and the 'inlet 36, which wall serves as an oil baffling means, since the incoming gases are forced to turn as indicated by the arrows 31 and 38 when flowing through the device from the inlet towards the outlet.

A restricted passage is essential-to .the operation of a crankcase ventilating system, and same is preferably located somewhere in the line con meeting the crankcase with the engine intake manifold. Such a restricted passage or orifice, asis required to make an operative structure, will very easily become clogged with sludge or other foreign matter and it is therefore the practice to provide aclean-out device operating in the system restricted passage, the movement of the clean-out device maintaining the restricted passage substantially free of sludge and preventing same from becoming clogged. It is customary to provide these clean-out devices with a weight and subject the device to the pulsating pressures of the engine induction system to move the clean-out device axially of the re stricted passage in order to prevent "sludge from accumulating in said restricted passage. Many failures in the past, in the operation of crankcase ventilating systems heretofore employed, have been due for the most part to the ineflicient operation of said clean-out devices, as they be come displaced and thus are inoperative or same become jammed in the restricted opening. In the present device we have provided a crankcase ventilating device as a metering element 49 which comprises a stem 4| and a weighted portion 42,

this weighted portion comprising an inverted U-shaped bracket having or legs 43. This weighted portion of the element is of such a construction as to be guided in the chamber 34 by the housing walls, and thus is avoided any possibility of the stem portion becoming displaced and out of registration with the passage 33 in which it operates. It will be further noted that the side walls or legs 43 and preferably'that one to the left as illustrated in Fig. '7 form an additional baffling means within the housing. Furthermore the housing is provided with suitable integral lugs 45, which serve as stops for limiting the upward travel of the valve element.

The housing has a hole 46 aligned with passage 33 which makes possible the admittance of a drill or other tool in the machining of the hole or passage 33. However, the area of this hole 46 is very much less than the area of the intake opening 36, and thus most of the vapors from the crankcase are drawn into the housing through the intake 36.

Itwill be observed that by providing this oil baffling means withinthe housing that much of depending side walls the troubles of sludge removal are eliminated,

since. the heavier particles and oil particles carried by the crankcase vapors are separated and removed before said vapors are conducted to the restricted passage 44, and thus only the lighter vapor is carried into the engine induction system. The oil and heavier particles which are removed with respect to the passage from these oil vapors are permitted to accumulate and to be discharged through the opening 48 into the valve chamber l8.

In Figs. 9 and 10 we have illustrated a modified construction which comprises a housing 50 for the ventilating device, same being provided with an outlet 5! and intakes 52. A hollow pin 53 is slidably supported within the hole 54 of said housing and the outlet passage 5| is in open communication with the hole 54 and the interior bore 55 of the pin.

A relatively large diameter weighted hollow sleeve structure 10 is secured as by a press fit to the lower end of the hollow pin 53 and is provided with an opening 56 on its lower side which is of slightly larger diameter than the solid p n 530. so as to provide a restricted passage 51 for admitting the crankcase vapors to the interior chamber 58 within said sleeve structure 10, which chamber communicates with the bore 55 of the pin and thus with the outlet 5!. The pressure pulsations in the intake manifold are communicate'dthrough the outlet passageti, passage or hole 54, to the top race of thehoilow pin 53 which carries the weighted member 10, and thus causes same to be moved up and down on the pin 53a to keep the restricted passage 51 substantially free of sludge formations.

In Fig. 11 we have illustrated a modified construc'tion which is somewhatsimilar to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1' to '8 inclusive, the only difference being that the clean-out pin is stepped as at 50 to provide a Variable meterin element so that when the clean-put device is subjected to low vacuum ressures insufllcicnt to overcome the gravity of the weighted portion, the restricted passage 6| is substantially larger in area. As'the vacuum pressureis increased the element is lifted and the larger diameter portion 62' of the stem enters the passage 63 and thus provides a restricted passage of smaller area. The weighted portion 64 is constructed to be guided by the housing 65'so as to accurately cen' ter the stem portion of the metering element 63 and thereby prevent at all times any danger of the shoulder or the stem catching on the edges of the opening.

This guiding means of the valve is equally important, when used with a plain stem as illustrated in Fig. 8 as the stem 4| is substantially centered with respect to the passage 33.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention pertains, that various modifications and changes maybe made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: Y

1. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein the crankcase and induction system are in communication at all times through a restricted passage and are subject to varying pressure pulsations in the engine induction system tending to produce varyingflow through said restricted passage, a clean out metering element displacing a part of the cross-sectional area of said passage and having a stem portion and a U-shaped weighted portion, and a housingfor said element and provided with guides acting'directly on said weighted portion only to restrain movement of the element to an axial movement substantially concentrically in said passage.

2. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein the crankcase and induction system are in com munication at all times through a restricted passage and are subject to varying pressure pulsations in the engine induction system tending'to produce varying verted U-shaped weighted portion, said weighted portion operable externally of said restricted passage, and a housing for saidelement and weighted portion, said housing provided with guides directly engaging said weighted portion only and movement of the stem portion of said an axial movement substantially concentrically of said passage,said element including the weighted portion and said housing comprising a unitary assembly.

3. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein the crankcase and induction system are in communication at all times through a restricted passage and are subject to varying pressure pulsations in the engine induction system tending to produce varying flow through said restricted passage, a clean out metering element displacing a centrically in said restricted passage, said element comprising an inverted U-shaped weighted portion and a stem portion weighted portion, said stem portion operable at all times in said restricted passage and having a cross-sectional area less than the cross-sectional area of said passage.

4. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein case and induction system are in comand having a weighted portion, and a housing for said element and provided with guides acting directly on said weighted portion to restrain area operable in said passage in response to predetermined minimum pressure pulsations in the engine induction system.

5. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein the crankcase and induction system are in communication at all times through a restricted passage and are subject to varying pressure pulsations in the engine induction system tending to produce varying flow through said restricted passage, a clean out metering element displacing a part of the cross-sectional area of said passage and having a weighted portion, and a housin for said element and provided with guides acting directly on said weighted portion to restrain passage, only lesser cross-sectional area operable in said passage in response to predetermined minimum pressure pulsations in the engine induction system, and said stem portion of greater cross-sectional area operable in said passage in response to maximum pressure pulsations in the engine induction system.

6. In an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and an induction system, and wherein the crankcase and induction system are in communication at all times through a restricted pas sage and are subject to varying pressure pulsations in the engine induction system tending to produce varying flow through said restricted passage, a clean out metering element displacing a part of the cross-sectional area acting on said weighted portion ment of the element to an axial movement substantially concentrically in said passage, the said metering element comprising an inverted U- shaped weighted portion and a stem portion secured to said weighted portion, said stem portion operable at all times in said passage and having a cross-sectional area less than the cross-sectional area of said passage, and stop means comprising lugs depending from the top internal wall of the housing and engaging the top plane surface of said U-shaped weighted portion to prevent said weighted portion from closing said passage when said element is subjected to maximum pressure pulsations of the engine induction system.

WILLIAM ENGSTROM. EARL GINN. 

